Gaden Shartse Tibetan Monks “Peaceful Heart Durango” Tour August 17th – September 1st, 2011
Gaden Shartse Tibetan Monks
“Peaceful Heart Durango” Tour
August 17th – September 1st, 2011
There are two major components to this event:
1. The actual tour with events in the last week of August;
2. Fundraiser movies in the next two weeks.
“Peaceful Heart Durango” – background
Tibetan Monks from the The Gaden Shartse Monastery are visiting Durango as part of a world-wide fundraising and cultural exchange tour. “Peaceful Heart Durango” is a celebration of unity, culture, and exchange. Six Buddhist monks, from one of the oldest orders of Tibet, visit Durango on August 29th through September 1st to share their timeless traditions, teachings, and culture with our community.
Events will include the creation of a sacred sand mandala hosted by Open Shutter Gallery, an evening of metta “practice” with a Dharma talk and a day long retreat with meditation and teachings on the “Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind”, both at the Durango, Dharma Center and “A Journey to the Roof of the World” a performance of ancient Tibetan dance, music, and blessings at Fort Lewis College. There is limited availability for personal blessings and healings if individuals schedule early.
Local contact: Louise Edwards, (970)-946-5942, [email protected]
Schedule for fundraising movie screenings:
Wednesday, Aug. 17, 6 p.m. Himalayan Kitchen,
992 Main Ave., Durango
“What Remains of Us”
Tuesday, Aug. 23, 6 p.m. Noble Hall, Ft. Lewis College
“Dalai Lama Renaissance”
Suggested donation at the door: $12
* No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
All donations go to the Gaden Shartse Monastery.
Fundraising movie screenings info.
“The Dalai Lama Renaissance”
Narrated by Harrison Ford, this movie is the winner of 12 awards and the official selection of over 40 international film festivals. At the edge of the Millennium, The Dalai Lama of Tibet invited 40 of the world’s leading, most innovative thinkers to his residence in the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India to discuss the world’s problems and how we can solve them. What transpired was unexpected and powerful. Beautifuly filmed, filled with Tibetan and Indian culture.
“What Remains of Us”
This film is a Canadian documentary film exploring the survival of the nonviolent resistance movement in Tibet. A young Tibetan woman from Québec, Canada, enters her homeland for the first time, carrying a clandestine video message from the Dalai Lama to Tibetans inside Tibet and to document the occupation and cultural genocide of Tibet by China. It was shot over eight years without the knowledge of the Chinese authorities.
Tour Purpose
The internationally acclaimed tour has been visiting the United States since 1989 with a two-fold mission:
1. To be of service to the world community by nurturing the spread of peace, harmony, compassion, and tolerance through educational and cultural exchange, interfaith dialog, and Buddhist teachings.
2. To raise funds needed to preserve the Tibetan culture and education at Gaden Shartse Monastery located in the Tibetan Refugee Settlement at Mundgod, India. Funds raised on the 2011 – 2012 tour will be donated directly to the Gaden Shartse Education Project and will be used for educational supplies, teachers, technology, buildings, maintenance, preservation, and outreach.
All donations go to the Gaden Shartse Monastery.
Gaden Shartse Monastery – information
http://www.gadenshartsecf.org/history/
Schedule for “Peaceful Heart Durango” Events
Monday, Aug. 29
10-10:30 “Chenrezig Mandala” opening ceremony Open Shutter Gallery
Noon “Peaceful Heart, Peaceful Start” Ft. Lewis College
Blessing for start of the school year – Peace Park
2:00 – 5:00 “Chenrezig Mandala” construction Open Shutter Gallery
5:30 -7 Meditation & Metta Dharma Talk Durango Dharma Center
Tuesday, Aug. 30
9:00 – 5:00 “Chenrezig Mandala” construction Open Shutter Gallery
Open to public
7:30 – 10:00 ” Journey to the roof of the world, sacred dance & chants of Tibet”
Ft. Lewis College Theatrer
Wednesday, Aug. 31
9:00 – 5:00 “Chenrezig Mandala” construction Open Shutter Gallery
Open to public
8:00 – 5:00 “Lo-Jong Retreat” Durango Dharma Center
Meditation & dharma talks on transforming the mind, enhancing compassion & cultivating a balanced attitude toward self & others
Thursday, Sept. 1
9:00 – 5:00 “Chenrezig Mandala” construction Open Shutter Gallery
Open to public
5:30 – 7:00 Closing Ceremony for Mandala Open Shutter Gallery
with procession to the Animas River – Open to Public
Event Details:
The Chenrezig Sand Mandala
This is an ancient traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice that is rarely conducted in the United States. Durango is fortunate to host this unique event.
Tibetan sand painting is known in Sanskrit as a mandala (in Tibetan: dul-sonkyil-khor), a circle. The circle represents psychic and spiritual wholeness.
The monks will create a sand mandala which is carefully constructed from dyed sand particles to represent the particular esoteric, textual traditions of Buddhism.
The work is intricate and labor intensive type, requiring incredible amounts of concentration. Millions of grains of colored sand are painstakingly laid into place, forming an intricate diagram of the enlightened mind and the ideal world. At times the execution of the design even pivots on the placement of a single grain of sand.
When viewing the mandala, one sees an exquisite work of art, however, it is much more. The sand mandala is constructed as vehicle to generate compassion, realize the impermanence of reality, and a social/cosmic healing of the environment.
In Tibetan Buddhism, a mandala is contemplated during meditation. Each symbol has significance, representing some aspect of wisdom or reminding the meditator of some guiding principle. Various scriptural texts dictate the shapes, forms, and colors of the mandala.
There are many different mandalas, each with different lessons
to teach and blessings to confer.
The mandala that will be created in Durango is a representation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Chenrezig. The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Chenrezig.
A ceremony will be held when the mandala is finished that symbolizes the impermanence of all that exists. The colored sands will be ritually swept up and offered as a blessing to all present. The remaining sand will be carried to the Animas River then poured into the river to carry the healing energies throughout the world.
The construction of the mandala will be at the Open Shutter Gallery, Mon. Aug. 29th through Thursday Sept. 1st. The opening ceremony will be at 10 a.m on Monday the 29th and the closing ceremony at 5:30 on Thursday, Sept. 1st.
Everyone is encouraged to attend both ceremonies and to come witness the creation of this extraordinary mandala during the 4 days of construction.
All donations go to the Gaden Shartse Monastery.
” Peaceful Heart, Peaceful Start”
The monks will bless the opening of the school year at the Fort Lewis College Peace Park. The ceremony will be about a ½ hour long. The public is welcome to attend.
“A Journey to the Roof of the World: Sacred Dance and Chants of Tibet.”
This is a full stage performance featuring sacred sounds, dance and life from the roof of the world.
The performance includes Tibetan multi-phonic chanting, often referred to as throat singing. The monks use a special technique to chant using their throat to create two or three tones simultaneously. The exotic sound is a sacred offering for the benefit of all.
The sacred dances of Tibet are not simply a performance, they are and ancient, spiritual ritual created to transform negativities and obstacles int positive and harmonious conditions. The origins of these dances have their roots in the secret path of tantric Buddhism.
The performance is 2 hours with an intermission.
Suggested Donations: General Admission: $20.00
Seniors and Students: $15.00
Children under 12: $5.00
* No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
For tickets, secure your tickets early online: www.gadenshartsecf.org
Limited seating. Tickets at the door, pending availability
Monday night meditation and Dharma talk
Metta or Loving Kindness meditation is one of the most popular vipassana techniques. This meditation is used to bring peace and tranquility into one’s own heart and sending loving kindness, along with compassion to others. Metta practice endows the four universal wishes, to live happily and to be free from hostility, affliction, and distress, with a very personal inner love, and by so doing, it has the power for personal transformation. It is a universal meditation that can be used by people of whether they are religious or not.
Daylong Retreat at Durango Dharma Center
One day mind training (lo-jong) retreat with Venerable Jangchub Chophel. The focus of the retreat will be the Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind, written by the eleventh century meditator Langi Thangpa. This is of the most important texts in the genre of Tibetan spiritual teachings known as lo-jong, literally “transforming the mind.” His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama refers to this work as one of the main sources of his own inspiration and reads it every day.
The central themes of lo-jong teachings include, amongst others, the enhancement of compassion, the cultivation of balanced attitudes toward self and others, the development of positive ways of thinking, and the transformation of adverse situations into favorable conditions for spiritual development. By incorporating the Eight Verses into you daily contemplation, one can bring their practice into their life beyond their time on the cushion, making the whole day a practice of spiritual growth.
Suggested Donation $75 to $100
- No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
- Pre-register early as space is limited
To register: www.gadenshartsecf.org
Local contact: Jim Bolton, (970) 259-3226, (970) 749-5090
Vajravidaran Healing Ritual
Vajravidaran is a Buddha associated with purification and health. Health is a result of our karmic imprints. This ritual offers an opportunity to improve your health by purifying negative karma. The Vajravidaran ritual of purification and has three stages: the removal of negativities, the cleansing of subtle negative imprints, and protection from their return.
There is a very limited number of appointments available, so please register early at: gadenshartsecf.org Once you register, you will be contacted to set up an appointment.
Suggested Donation: $75
Venues:
Open Shutter Gallery, 735 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301
(970) 382-8355, www.openshuttergallery.com
Brandon/manager or Margy/owner
Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango, CO 81301
www.fortlewis.edu
Durango Dharma Center, 2530 Colorado Ave., Durango, CO 81301
www.durangodharmacenter.org
Serving Life Chiropractic, 1040 Main Ave., Upstairs, Durango
970-422-2032, www.servinglifechiropractic.com
